


grow old with me (let us share what we see)

by rolandtowen



Series: The Dragon and The Wolf [10]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asthmatic Zuko, Chief Sokka (Avatar), Chief Zuko, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Firelord Sokka, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Growing Old, Growing Old Together, Growing Up Together, Happy Ending, Healing, Hurt Sokka (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury Recovery, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Post-Canon, Post-War, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Zuko has chronic pain, author has chronic pain, chronic pain for everyone!, fuck ozai, sokka has chronic pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 15:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30141534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rolandtowen/pseuds/rolandtowen
Summary: Zuko and Sokka will be healing from their time in the war for the rest of their lives. But at least they’re healing together.Title taken from Tom Odell’s song “Grow Old with Me”TW: referenced child abuse, chronic pain, disability, and unhealthy coping mechanisms that could be viewed as self-harmRated T for language
Relationships: Izumi & Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The Dragon and The Wolf [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115390
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	grow old with me (let us share what we see)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [old and new dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153098) by [lesmiserablol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesmiserablol/pseuds/lesmiserablol). 



Some nights, Zuko feels like he’s drowning.

It’s an improvement over the fever dreams he had suffered in the weeks after his coronation, after the Gaang had their separate ways and he was left alone in the palace. Before he started courting Sokka, nighttime was a hellscape for Zuko. None of the staff knew what to do when they heard the Fire Lord screaming himself awake and the sobs that followed. Before the servants got to know Zuko, they assumed that the new Fire Lord would punish them for seeing him in a vulnerable state.

When he most needed his friends, Zuko found himself alone. The burning sensation in his chest reminded him too much of Ozai’s hand on his face, the smell of charred skin under his bandages too similar to the scent that clung to him for weeks following his banishment. He knew that his wound would scar—he had seen the mark Azula left on Aang’s back when they trained katas together. But he wasn’t prepared for it to haunt him, even years later. He wonders if Aang finds himself in a similar predicament.

But at the end of the day, lightning-induced asthma is a massive improvement over terrifying fever dreams, especially with his husband by his side.

Tonight his chest feels heavy and no matter how deeply he inhales, he just can’t get enough air in his lungs. Damned lightning. He pushes the heavy duvet off his chest, sitting up in their shared bed. He looks out at the moonless night sky and tries to breathe, tries to lift the invisible boulder sitting on his lungs. It doesn’t budge.

He claws at his throat, trying his best not to wake up Sokka. _Please,_ he thinks, _is it too much to ask to breathe?_

Sokka stirs next to him ( _dammit_ ) and quickly realizes that his husband is in distress. He sits against their plush headboard and hauls Zuko into his arms. “Slow breaths, Zu.” Zuko nods shakily, trying _so hard_ to breathe. “In and out… there you go, just like that.” Sokka runs a calming hand up and down Zuko’s chest, careful not to touch the starburst scar branded into his skin. “I’m right here, you’re okay, you’re safe.”

Slowly, the invisible weight lifts off Zuko’s chest and he’s able to take a rattling breath, his lungs finally taking in their full capacity. Sokka uses his free hand to grab a mix of oils from a nightstand drawer. He keeps it close for nights like these. The solution is sharp and minty, meant to relax Zuko’s spasming lungs and reopen his airways. Katara made it for him, based on a traditional Water Tribe blend used to combat pneumonia in fishermen.

Sokka scoops out some of the mixture and when he turns back, Zuko has tears in his eyes. “Why can’t I get any better? It’s been _five years_.” He hiccups into Sokka’s shoulder. Sokka shushes him gently.

“We were just kids, Zuko. We were kids that fought in a war and our bodies got fucked up. No one is expecting you to miraculously recover from a lightning blast that should have killed you.” Sokka applies the oils to Zuko’s chest and that mercifully calms his rattling inhales.

Zuko stays quiet for a moment, as though he’s thinking through his next words carefully. “The Fire Nation… doesn’t take kindly to weakness.”

Sokka massages his shoulders. “You’re the furthest thing from weak. For crying out loud, you can make Dragon Fire! You can redirect lightning and wield two swords at once and beat me in hand-to-hand combat. You’re the youngest Fire Lord in history and you’ve helped bring peace between the four nations for the first time in over a hundred years.” He presses a kiss to the crown of Zuko’s head. “You’re not weak, Zu.”

Zuko hums, but whether in affirmation or dissent, Sokka can’t tell. He doesn’t protest Sokka’s kind words, and that’s progress at least. Sokka cards his fingers through his raven hair. He knows wearing the crown of the Fire Lord is a heavy burden, literally and figuratively. Zuko melts into his hand. “Can I do anything else for you, my dear?”

Zuko shakes his head. “Please, just hold me.”

Sokka does.

* * *

There are days when Sokka wants to cut off his leg.

Councilor Aito and Chief Arnook have been going back and forth about the proper tax rate on blubber for what feels like _hours._ His leg is cramping, badly. Winter in the Fire Nation is much warmer than the South Pole, but the drafts still seem to seep into his bones. He tries shifting his weight in his seiza, but the movement only makes him wince. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see he’s caught Zuko’s attention, but he fakes a pleasant look on his face. _I’m fine, I’m making it through this meeting._

To distract himself from his aching leg, Sokka clenches his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms. When his vision starts swimming, he tightens his grip. Suddenly, the attendees around the room are standing, and Sokka’s not sure where the last five minutes have gone. He leaps up and can barely hear Zuko dismissing everyone over the blood thundering in his ears.

“Husband, stay please.” Zuko waits for everyone else to file out the throne room, and then he drops his bureaucratic façade. “ _Agni,_ Sokka, sit down.”

“I’m _fine,_ ” Sokka almost growls. He tries to gather his notes from the table, but the second he puts his weight on his left leg, the room spins before him. “Fuck, catch me.”

Zuko, who was prepared for this as soon as he saw Sokka grimace, catches Sokka with ease and lowers them both to the ground, with Sokka’s head coming to rest in the lap of his formal robes. “My love, talk to me.”

Sokka’s body spasms in pain. “It’s just my damn leg.” His fists curl tighter.

“ _Sokka,_ you’re bleeding.” Zuko gently pries open his hands. Sokka’s surprised to see that he’s right. His fingernails have broken the skin on his palms, and blood is gathering at the edges of the crescent marks on his hands.

“I’m sorry.” Sokka wants to run away, but his damned leg isn’t cooperating.

Zuko holds his face between his hands. “My love, no.” He makes Sokka look him in the eye. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But I screwed up your meeting—”

“Fuck my meetings. You’re more important.” Zuko presses his palms together. “We’re going to sit here until your leg feels better, and then I’m going to help you bandage your hands and then—” he pauses for effect. “We are going to eat dinner in our room while we watch the sunset. Sound good?”

Sokka nods. Zuko folds the left leg of his pants up, pressing his palms to Sokka’s shin. He channels a bit of heat into them, watching Sokka’s face to make sure he doesn’t hurt him. Sokka sighs. “Better?” Zuko asks, smiling slyly.

“Spirits, yes.” Zuko can feel the tension melting out of Sokka’s body, can feel his husband becoming more relaxed in his lap.

“You know, you can ask me to do this more often. It’s not like it’s hard.” Zuko winks down at Sokka. He flexes his leg slowly, straightening it out. “Do you think you can walk now?”

“Yeah, yeah, that helped a lot.”

Zuko helps him stand, wraps a strong arm around his waist, and half-carries him through the secret corridor that connects the throne room to their private chambers. He sets Sokka down on their bed, gathering supplies from their washroom. He returns with bandages, a basin of water, and a few towels to find Sokka sprawled on his back.

Zuko pokes his chest softly. “Hey, first aid, then sleepy-times. Come on, up you sit.” Sokka grumbles but indulges him. Zuko takes one towel in his hands, immersing it in the basin of water, and then gathering it in his hands, directing heat into it until it steams. “Might not be as good as my hands on you,” he winks, wrapping the towel around Sokka’s leg, “but I’ve got to use both hands to clean your cuts.”

Sokka surrenders his hands to Zuko, who carefully inspects the damage before cleaning the cuts and wrapping them with long strips of bandages, like a fighter would wrap their hands. Sokka looks down at his hands and laughs. Zuko looks up at him from where’s he’s crouched, baffled.

Sokka chuckles. “No, it’s just,” he waves his newly bandaged hands in front of Zuko’s face. “It’s a Water Tribe fashion statement!”

Zuko softly bangs his head against Sokka’s good knee. “You know I will love you forever, no matter how much you act like a dumbass?”

Sokka captures his mouth in a kiss. “I know.” He smiles.

* * *

Every passing year, Zuko’s lungs breathe a little easier.

Every passing year, Sokka’s leg aches a little less.

They see Katara and Aang get married in the South Pole, with Zuko officiating as the Fire Lord. They adopt an orphan girl, and Zuko cannot help but call her _Izumi,_ for the Water Tribe boy that came into his broken life and changed its course. Sokka nicknames her _Zu,_ which ends up being very confusing for both Zuko and Izumi, but he rolls with it. When she starts firebending, Sokka cannot believe the gentleness with which Zuko teaches her. When Hakoda steps down, both Sokka and Zuko are named Chieftains of the Southern Water Tribe, and Izumi earns the Mark of the Trusted from her grandpa ‘Koda. Zuko and Izumi take a trip after Izumi is named Crown Princess and heir apparent—Zuko doesn’t say where—but Sokka knows well enough when Izumi comes back bending Dragon Fire.

On a cool evening in the Fire Nation, Zuko wraps a warm towel around Sokka’s leg, and they look out on the gardens together. Izumi is playing Pai Sho with some other children of the palace beside the turtle duck pond. Zuko sits beside his husband, letting his hair out of its topknot. Sokka smiles at him. “I can’t believe we made it this far.”

Zuko tears his eyes away from Izumi, to meet Sokka’s gaze. “I never doubted we would.”

Together, the Dragon and the Wolf watch the sun set and the full moon rise.

Fully at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the "official" end of the Dragon and the Wolf 'verse. I will be putting up a short postlude today, but it will be more bittersweet than this one and will mention major character deaths, so I separated it from this fic so that this can be your happy ending if you desire. 
> 
> It's weird to think that I owe a fictional queer couple for keeping me motivated to do my homework and make time for writing during a global pandemic, but vibes, amirite? 
> 
> Thank you for coming along this journey with me. This account will always strive to be safe and cozy space - if you have any fic suggestions, leave them in the comments! I know I've got some goodies to work on already from very kind commenters :)
> 
> Also, this is how I pictured Sokka this entire work:  
> https://i.makeagif.com/media/4-18-2014/BmGdAF.mp4
> 
> Be kind to your mind, drink some water, and go get some sunshine. I love you all <3


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